The defence min said dialogue will take place with Pak if it stops supporting terror entirely

Three days after India scored a big win at United Nations Security Council where Pakistan failed to get support of 13 other countries barring China and UK even in an informal discussion on abrogation of Article 370 and Kashmir, a buoyant India made it clear that the only outstanding issue that India would now discuss with Pakistan would be Pakoccupied Kashmir (PoK).

The top minister’s emphasis on PoK is being explained in diplomatic circles as a way of “messaging to people in the area that India has not forsaken them.”

Upping the ante, defence minister Rajnath Singh said, “Article 370 was abrogated in J&K for its development. Our neighbour is knocking doors of international community, saying India made a mistake. Talks with Pakistan will be held only if it stops supporting terror. And if talks are held with Pakistan, it will now only be on PoK.”

Speaking at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Haryana, Singh said abrogation of Article 370 had completely weakened the neighbouring country and has become a cause of concern for them. Taking a swipe at Pak PM Imran Khan, Singh said, “Few days ago, prime minister of Pakistan said that India is planning to take an action bigger than Balakot. It means that Pakistan PM acknowledges Balakot strike did take place.”

Imran Khan takes to Twitter to lash out against Modi, BJP, RSS

The defence minister’s mention of PoK coming in the back of his nuancing of possible review of India’s ‘no first use’ nuclear policy just two days ago clearly got Islamabad overworked. In fact, PoK mention by India got Pak PM Imran Khan to lash out at the Modi government in New Delhi and accuse it of being a Hindu fascist government.

Khan tweeted “India has been captured, as Germany had been captured by Nazis, by a fascist, racist Hindu supremacist ideology and leadership. This threatens nine million Kashmiris under siege in India-occupied Kashmir for over two weeks, which should have sent alarm bells ringing across the world with UN observers being sent there.”

Conflating Assam NRC issue with Kashmir, Khan went on to claim citizenship of Muslims were being cancelled and four million Indian Muslims were in detention camps and said it was a threat to Pakistan, minorities in India and “the very fabric of Nehru and Gandhi’s India.”

“With abrogation of Article 370, Pakistan feels completely disoriented. For all these years they have grown with the slogan ‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’. The revocation of J&K’s special status under Article 370 demolished Pakistan’s narrative and they do not know what to do,” diplomat Tilak Devasher, a member of National Security Advisory Board, told Mirror. Commenting on specific mention of PoK by the defence minister, Devasher said, “It is a way of sending a message to the people that India has not forgotten or forsaken them.”

Few days ago, prime minister of Pakistan said that India is planning to take an action bigger than Balakot. It means that Pakistan PM acknowledges Balakot strike did take place